1. Two flat pieces of wood joined together at one end, used to produce a loud slapping noise; spec. such a device used in pantomime and low comedy to make a great noise with the pretence of dealing a heavy blow.2. attrib. passing into adj. Of or pertaining to a slapstick; of or reminiscent of knockabout comedy.3. Knockabout comedy or humour, farce, horseplay. criticism: slapstick comedy lacks linearity film's linearity film's non-linearcomponents plotnarrativediegesis gag/spectacle Are gags more important than the narrative? a placean eventan objectan animal series of gags gag as a bad elementincoherencenarrative lurchingintrusions Slapstick = Genre ? "Slapstick is the generic term for the non-narrative intrusions (gags)."- Donald Crafton "Slapstick occurs anytime things go wrong physically for the hero in such a way that we know the movie-makers are inviting us to laugh."- Alan S. Dale 1. Slapstick as a genre 2. Slapstick as a term for gags (only compositional elements of a film) SLAPSTICK as a genre "The historical irony of silent comedy is that the clowns' theatrical experience trained them for the movies, which then destroyed the network they sprang from by stealing the audience."- But... ...in both cases we still need a precise definition of slapstick, don't we? "Slapstick feels too familiar for a philosophical term" ... because it happens to us all the time! (Alan S. Dale) Mishaps!! Real life mishaps Audience Characters "both more and less like us" "we have to laugh at the lossof our dignity" experience seem believable what do we laugh at? "Slapstick is the play with danger, with catastrophe, and its prevention in the nich of time." - Siegfried Kracauer The Chase (cause and effect)early slapstick = physical violence, mechanical repetition, speed and excessive moment parody of melodramasilent comedians found melodrama ridiculoushowever, melodrama gave framework to their films GAG? Definitions of gag Joke Gag "specific forms of intrusions" emphatic/violent/embarrassing gesture originality?novelty?plagiarism? M. Willson Disher 6 kinds of jokes

1. falls2. blows3. surprise4. knavery5. mimicry6. stupidity HAHAHA - ha? kinds of gags SLAPSTICK GAGS! FALL = caused by a banana peelBLOW = pie in the face "Essence of slapstic gag is a physical assault on hero's dignity or the collapse of his dignity." THE PIE & THE CHASE Types of gags e.g.:

1. mistaken identity2. camera tricks3. manipulation of cause + effect (little action and disproportionate reaction) SIMPLE! COMPLEX! GAGS according to Noël CARROLL NO! sight gag = silent film 1930 ? - Alan S. Dale Buster Keaton in The Navigator - superexaggeration of the hero's obliviousness and ineffectualityand neither fall nor blow sight slapstick & verbal slapstick 1930 - ... Mable NormandStan Laurel and Oliver HardyHarry LangdonMax Linder (France) 1. mutual interference of two/more series of events (The Freshman)2. inattention or unawareness of the surrounding environment (The General)3. the switch movement (The Pawnshop)4. the object analog (The Rink, The Pawnshop)5. solution gag (The General) Is this a gag or a slapstick? Can slapstick be used as a term regarding only elements of slapstick (gags)? And if yes - should we distinguish between slapstick gags and sight gags? Is slapstick a genre of the past? So... what is slapstick NOWADAYS? What happened to slapstick? Is there any "pure" modern slapstick movie? slapstick? visual comedy? physical comedy?synonyms? opposites? verbal slapstick? Did slapstick develop or ... did it disappear? Keystone Studios